Document display device, word arrangement method, and document display method

ABSTRACT

A method and device for displaying a document written in a Western language in a readable form without decreasing the utilization efficiency of a display screen. When a tail of a word to be displayed goes beyond an end of a line on the screen and the number of characters contained in the word does not exceeds a reference value, a line feed is inserted immediately before the word to perform word-wrapping, and when the number of characters contained in the word exceeds the reference value, a line feed is inserted halfway within the word to display divided parts of the word on different lines.

This application is a Continuation of co-pending application Ser. No.10/493,817 filed on Apr. 28, 2004, and for which priority is claimedunder 35 U.S.C. § 120; the entire contents of all are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a document display device and adocument display method for displaying a document written in a languagein which adjoining words are written separated from each other. Thepresent invention finds application, in particular, in cellular phones,portable terminal devices, and the like provided with a display sectionthat can display only a small number of characters per line on thescreen thereof.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, on English word processors and personal computershandling documents written in Western languages, when a document isdisplayed on a screen or printed on paper, word-wrapping is performedwhereby, to prevent a word from being cut halfway and arranged onadjoining lines, a new line is started immediately before that word. Forexample, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H2-27468 proposes adocument creating device wherein character data that represents thecharacters and symbols entered via a keyboard is temporarily stored in abuffer, and the thus stored character data is sequentially read out fromthe buffer in such a way that, while word-wrapping is performed on thoseparts of the character data that happen to be located beyond thepreviously set display area, the character data is displayed on thescreen in a display section.

However, simply performing word-wrapping results in varying blanklengths at the right-hand ends of different lines, making the documentappear untidy. To avoid this, justification is often performed incombination whereby extra spaces are inserted between adjoining words tomake the left-hand and right hand ends of different lines flush.

The problem here is that, when word-wrapping is performed on a wordconsisting of a large number of characters and justification isperformed on the line preceding that word, this line looks too widelyspaced, making the document appear not much better than without suchmanipulation. To avoid this, hyphenation is further performed incombination whereby a word is divided at a division point betweenadjoining syllables and arranged on adjoining lines with a hypheninserted in between.

However, whether to perform hyphenation or not needs to be decided bythe operator who is entering the document after tentatively displayingand evaluating the appearance of the document as expected to be obtainedwhen a given word is arranged on adjoining lines. This imposes a heavyburden on the operator.

There have conventionally been proposed also techniques for lesseningthe burden on the operator before hyphenation. For example, JapanesePatent Application Laid-Open No. H1-116758 proposes a documentprocessing device provided with a line selecting means, a characterstring moving means, and a division point changing means wherein adocument is displayed in a format having hyphens inserted appropriatelyor in a format close thereto in order to less rely on the operator'soperation when deciding whether or not and where to divide given words.

Word-wrapping and hyphenation are, in general, useful to display adocument in a readable format. However, quite inconveniently, whenapplied in cellular phones, portable terminal devices, and the like,i.e., in appliances provided with a display section that can displayonly a small number of characters per line on the screen thereof,word-wrapping reduces the amount of information that can be presented ata time and hyphenation rather makes a document more difficult to read.This is because, where only a small number of characters can bedisplayed per line, word-wrapping and hyphenation are performedexcessively frequently.

Specifically, frequently performing word-wrapping results in loweringthe efficiency with which the display area is used, i.e., the proportionof the area in which characters are actually displayed relative to thewhole available display area. This reduces the amount of informationthat can be presented at a time. Frequently performing hyphenation doesnot lower the efficiency with which the display area is used, but causestoo many words to be divided between adjoining lines. This makes adocument difficult to read. Justification helps improve the appearanceof a document by leveling out the differences among different lines inthe number of characters displayed thereon resulting from word-wrapping,but does not contribute to the improvement of the efficiency with whichthe display area is used.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a document displaydevice, a word arrangement method, and a document display method thatpermit a document to be displayed in a readable format without undulylowering display area use efficiency even in a case where only a smallnumber of characters can be displayed per line due to, for example,restrictions on the size of the display area.

To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the presentinvention, a document display device including a display section thathas a screen on which characters can be displayed in a plurality oflines and a display control section that displays characters whileinserting line feeds therein according to the number of characters perline on the screen is provided with: a first judging section that checkswhether or not the tail of a word to be displayed goes beyond the end ofa line on the screen; a second judging section that, when the firstjudging section finds the tail of the word to go beyond the end of theline on the screen, checks whether or not the number of characterscontained in the word exceeds a reference value; a word-wrap sectionthat, when the first judging section finds the tail of the word to gobeyond the end of the line on the screen and in addition the secondjudging section finds the number of characters contained in the word notto exceed the reference value, instructs the display control section toinsert a line feed immediately before the word; and a halfway line-feedsection that, when the first judging section finds the tail of the wordto go beyond the end of the line on the screen and in addition thesecond judging section finds the number of characters contained in theword to exceed the reference value, instructs the display controlsection to insert a line feed halfway within the word.

In this document display device, when the tail of a word goes beyond theend of a line, word-wrapping is performed. Here, however, word-wrappingis performed not unconditionally whenever the tail of a word goes beyondthe end of a line but only when the number of characters contained inthe word is not greater than the predetermined value, and, when thenumber of characters contained in the word exceeds the predeterminedvalue, a line feed is inserted halfway within the word. Accordingly, theblank created at the end of a line by word-wrapping always has a lengthcorresponding to a number of characters smaller than the referencevalue. In this way, it is possible to alleviate the lowering of screenuse efficiency, and in addition word-wrapping helps enhance documentreadability.

Advisably, the number of characters per line on the screen of thedisplay section is made variable, and the document display device isfurther provided with a setting section that sets, according to thenumber of characters per line on the screen, the reference value thatthe second judging section uses to check the number of characterscontained in the word. Even though the physical size of the screen ofthe display section is fixed, the number of characters per line can bechanged according to, for example, the area used for the display of adocument, whether the document is displayed in a horizontal or verticalformat, and the size of the characters displayed. Even when the numberof characters per line is changed in this way, by setting the referencevalue according to the number of characters per line, it is possible tostrike an optimal balance between document readability and screen useefficiency.

Here, advisably, the setting section calculates, by multiplying by apredetermined factor the number of characters per line on the screen,the reference value that the second judging section uses to check thenumber of characters contained in the word.

Alternatively, the document display device is further provided with ajudgment table in which are stored, in one-to-one correspondence,different values as the number of characters per line on the screen ofthe display section and the corresponding values as the reference valuethat the second judging section uses to check the number of characterscontained in the word, and the setting section reads out, from thejudgment table, the reference value that the second judging section usesto check the number of characters contained in the word.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a document displaydevice including a display section that has a screen on which characterscan be displayed in a plurality of lines and a display control sectionthat displays characters while inserting line feeds therein according tothe number of characters per line on the screen is provided with: afirst judging section that checks whether or not the tail of a word tobe displayed goes beyond the end of a line on the screen; a secondjudging section that, when the first judging section finds the tail ofthe word to go beyond the end of the line on the screen, checks whetheror not the head of the word is located closer to the end of the line onthe screen than a reference position is; a word-wrap section that, whenthe first judging section finds the tail of the word to go beyond theend of the line on the screen and in addition the second judging sectionfinds the head of the word to be located closer to the end of the lineon the screen than the reference position is, instructs the displaycontrol section to insert a line feed immediately before the word; and ahalfway line-feed section that, when the first judging section finds thetail of the word to go beyond the end of the line on the screen and inaddition the second judging section finds the head of the word not to belocated closer to the end of the line on the screen than the referenceposition is, instructs the display control section to insert a line feedhalfway within the word.

In this document display device, when the tail of a word goes beyond theend of a line, word-wrapping is performed. Here, however, word-wrappingis performed only when the head of the word is located closer to the endof the line than the reference position is, and, when the head of theword is located just at the reference position or closer to the top ofthe line than the reference position is, a line feed is inserted halfwaywithin the word. Accordingly, the blank created at the end of a line byword-wrapping is always located only on the end-of-line side of thereference position. In this way, it is possible to alleviate thelowering of screen use efficiency, and in addition word-wrapping helpsenhance document readability.

Advisably, the number of characters per line on the screen of thedisplay section is made variable, and the document display device isfurther provided with a setting section that sets, according to thenumber of characters per line on the screen, the reference position thatthe second judging section uses to check where the head of the word islocated. Even when the number of characters per line is changed, bysetting the reference position according to the number of characters perline, it is possible to strike an optimal balance between documentreadability and screen use efficiency.

Here, advisably, the setting section calculates, by multiplying by apredetermined factor the number of characters per line on the screen,the reference position that the second judging section uses to checkwhere the head of the word is located.

Alternatively, the document display device is further provided with ajudgment table in which are stored, in one-to-one correspondence,different values as the number of characters per line on the screen ofthe display section and the corresponding positions as the referenceposition that the second judging section uses to check where the head ofthe word is located, and the setting section reads out, from thejudgment table, the reference position that the second judging sectionuses to check where the head of the word is located.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a document displaydevice including a display section that has a screen on which characterscan be displayed in a plurality of lines and a display control sectionthat displays characters while inserting line feeds therein according tothe number of characters per line on the screen is provided with: afirst judging section that checks whether or not the tail of a word tobe displayed goes beyond the end of a line on the screen; a secondjudging section that, when the first judging section finds the tail ofthe word to go beyond the end of the line on the screen, checks whetheror not the ratio of the number of characters from the head of the wordto the end of the line to the number of characters contained in the wordexceeds a reference value; a word-wrap section that, when the firstjudging section finds the tail of the word to go beyond the end of theline on the screen and in addition the second judging section finds theratio of the number of characters from the head of the word to the endof the line to the number of characters contained in the word not toexceed the reference value, instructs the display control section toinsert a line feed immediately before the word; and a halfway line-feedsection that, when the first judging section finds the tail of the wordto go beyond the end of the line on the screen and in addition thesecond judging section finds the ratio of the number of characters fromthe head of the word to the end of the line to the number of characterscontained in the word to exceed the reference value, instructs thedisplay control section to insert a line feed halfway within the word.

In this document display device, when the tail of a word goes beyond theend of a line, word-wrapping is performed. Here, however, word-wrappingis performed only when the ratio of the number of characters from thehead of the word to the end of the line to the number of characterscontained in the word does not exceed the reference value, and, when theratio of the number of characters from the head of the word to the endof the line to the number of characters contained in the word exceedsthe reference value, a line feed is inserted halfway within the word.Accordingly, the blank created at the end of a line by word-wrapping isalways shorter than or equal to the length corresponding to the numberof characters obtained by multiplying the number of characters containedin the word as a whole by the predetermined value. This makes itpossible to shorten the blank except when the line contains a wordcontaining an especially large number of characters. In this way, it ispossible to alleviate the lowering of screen use efficiency, and inaddition word-wrapping helps enhance document readability.

Advisably, the reference value that the second judging section uses tocheck the ratio of the number of characters from the head of the word tothe end of the line to the number of characters contained in the word ismade variable, and the document display device is further provided witha setting section that sets the reference value according to the numberof characters from the head of the word to the end of the line. If thereference value is fixed, the maximum value of the length of the blankcreated by word-wrapping varies with the number of characters containedin the word. By contrast, by making the reference value variable anddetermining it according to the number of characters contained in theword, it is possible to make substantially fixed the maximum value ofthe length of the blank. This helps further alleviate the lowering ofscreen use efficiency. To achieve this, the reference value is madesmaller for words containing larger numbers of characters than for wordscontaining smaller numbers of characters.

Here, advisably, the document display device is further provided with ajudgment table in which are stored, in one-to-one correspondence,different values as the number of characters contained in the word andthe corresponding values as the reference value that the second judgingsection uses to check the ratio of the number of characters from thehead of the word to the end of the line to the number of characterscontained in the word, and the setting section reads out, from thejudgment table, the reference value that the second judging section usesto check the ratio of the number of characters from the head of the wordto the end of the line to the number of characters contained in the wordto.

Advisably, when the first judging section finds the tail of the word togo beyond the end of the line on the screen, the second judging sectionalso checks whether or not the number of characters contained in theword exceeds a reference value, and, even when the first judging sectionfinds the tail of the word to go beyond the end of the line on thescreen and in addition the second judging section finds the ratio of thenumber of characters from the head of the word to the end of the line tothe number of characters contained in the word to exceed the referencevalue, if the second judging section finds the number of characterscontained in the word not to exceed the reference value, the halfwayline-feed section does not instruct the display control section toinsert a line feed halfway within the word but the word-wrap sectioninstructs the display control section to insert a line feed immediatelybefore the word. Consequently, the blank created at the end of a line byword-wrapping is always shorter than or equal to the lengthcorresponding to the reference value for the number of characterscontained in the word. This helps further alleviate the lowering ofscreen use efficiency. Moreover, it no longer occurs that a line feedinserted halfway within a word containing a small number of characterscauses a divided part thereof, containing too small a number ofcharacters, to be arranged separately at the end or head of a line. Thishelps achieve readable display.

Alternatively, when the first judging section finds the tail of the wordto go beyond the end of the line on the screen, the second judgingsection also checks whether or not the head of the word is locatedcloser to the end of the line on the screen than a reference positionis, and, even when the first judging section finds the tail of the wordto go beyond the end of the line on the screen and in addition thesecond judging section finds the ratio of the number of characters fromthe head of the word to the end of the line to the number of characterscontained in the word to exceed the reference value, if the secondjudging section finds the head of the word to be located closer to theend of the line on the screen than the reference position is, thehalfway line-feed section does not instruct the display control sectionto insert a line feed halfway within the word but the word-wrap sectioninstructs the display control section to insert a line feed immediatelybefore the word. Consequently, the blank created at the end of a line byword-wrapping is always located only on the end-of line side of thereference position. This helps further alleviate the lowering of screenuse efficiency. Moreover, it no longer occurs that a line feed insertedhalfway within a word causes a divided part thereof, containing toosmall a number of characters, to be arranged separately at the head of aline. This helps achieve readable display.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a word arrangementmethod for arranging a sequence of words in a line with an upper limitset on the number of characters per line includes the step of: choosing,when the number of characters from the top of a line to the tail of aword exceeds the upper limit of the number of characters per line,whether to arrange only a part or no part at all of the word in the lineaccording to whether or not a predetermined condition is fulfilled.

In this word arrangement method, when a word that is going to be placedlast in a line is found to cause the total number of characters in thatline to exceed the upper limit, a choice is permitted of whether toinclude no part at all or only a part of the word in the line. Includingno part at all of the word in the line corresponds to word-wrapping, andthus helps enhance document readability. On the other hand, includingonly a part of the word in the line corresponds to a halfway line feed,and thus helps alleviate the lowering of display area use efficiency. Bychoosing whether to include no part at all or only a part of a word in aline according to whether a predetermined condition is fulfilled or not,it is possible to strike a desired balance between document readabilityand display area use efficiency, and thereby it is possible even toenhance both document readability and display area use efficiency.

Here, advisably, the predetermined condition is whether or not thenumber of characters contained in the word exceeds a reference value, orwhether or not the number of characters from the top of the line to thehead of the word exceeds a reference value, or whether or not the ratioof the number of characters from the head of the word to the end of theline to the number of characters contained in the word exceeds apredetermined value, Any of these conditions helps simultaneouslyachieve enhanced document readability and enhanced display area useefficiency. This method can be applied not only to the arrangement ofwords in each line in a case where a plurality of lines are displayed ata time but also to the arrangement of word in each session of display ina case where only one line is displayed at a time and its display isupdated as time passes.

In the present invention, the word arrangement method described above isprovided in the form of a software program that is executed on acomputer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a document displaymethod whereby words constituting a document are displayed sequentiallywith line feeds inserted therein according to the upper limit set on thenumber of characters per line includes the steps of: setting a referencevalue for the number of characters contained in a word; inserting a linefeed immediately before the word when the number of characters from thetop of a line to the tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of thenumber of characters per line and in addition the number of characterscontained in the word does not exceed the reference value; inserting aline feed halfway within the word when the number of characters from thetop of the line to the tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of thenumber of characters per line and in addition the number of characterscontained in the word exceeds the reference value.

In this word arrangement method, when the number of characters from thetop of a line to the tail of a word exceeds the upper limit of thenumber of characters per line, a choice is permitted of whether toperform word-wrapping or to insert a halfway line feed. The choice ismade according to the number of characters contained in the word in sucha way that, when the number of characters contained in the word is notgreater than the reference value, word-wrapping is performed and, whennumber of characters contained in the word exceeds the reference value,a half-way line feed. Consequently, the blank created at the end of aline by word-wrapping always has a length corresponding to the number ofcharacters smaller than the reference value, and this helps alleviatethe lowering of display area use efficiency. Moreover, word-wrappinghelps enhance document readability. This method can be applied not onlyin a case where a plurality of lines are displayed at a time but also ina case where only one line is displayed at a time and its display isupdated as time passes. Here, “display” denotes not only temporarydisplay as achieved on a liquid crystal display but also continuous orpermanent display as achieved by printing on paper.

Advisably, the upper limit of the number of characters per line is madevariable, and the reference value for the number of characters containedin the word is set according to the upper limit of the number ofcharacters per line. By making the number of characters per linevariable, it is possible to achieve flexible display. For example, onthe screen of a device that adopts this method, it is possible to changethe area used for the display of a document, and to display the documentin whichever of a horizontal and a vertical format is desired; it isalso possible to change the size of the characters displayed, Moreover,by setting the reference value according to the number of characters perline, even when the number of characters per line is changed, it ispossible to strike an optimal balance between document readability anddisplay area use efficiency.

Here, advisably, the reference value for the number of characterscontained in the word is set by multiplying by a predetermined factorthe upper limit of the number of characters per line, Alternatively,different values as the upper limit of the number of characters per lineand the corresponding values as the reference value for the number ofcharacters contained in the word are stored in one-to-onecorrespondence.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a document displaymethod whereby words constituting a document are displayed sequentiallywith line feeds inserted therein according to the upper limit set on thenumber of characters per line includes the steps of: setting a referencevalue for the number of characters from the top of a line to the head ofa word; inserting a line feed immediately before the word when thenumber of characters from the top of the line to the tail of the wordexceeds the upper limit of the number of characters per line and inaddition the number of characters from the top of the line to the headof the word exceeds the reference value; inserting a line feed halfwaywithin the word when the number of characters from the top of the lineto the tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of the number ofcharacters per line and in addition the number of characters from thetop of the line to the head of the word does not exceed the referencevalue.

Also in this document display method, when the number of characters fromthe top of a line to the tail of a word exceeds the upper limit of thenumber of characters per line, a choice is permitted of whether toperform word-wrapping or to insert a halfway line feed. Here, the choiceis made according to the number of characters from the top of the lineto the tail of the word in such a way that, when the number ofcharacters from the top of the line to the tail of the word exceeds thereference value, word-wrapping is performed and, when the number ofcharacters from the top of the line to the tail of the word is notgreater than the reference value, a halfway line feed is inserted. Theblank created at the end of a line by word-wrapping is always shorterthan or equal to the length corresponding to the number of charactersequal to the upper limit minus the reference value. This helps alleviatethe lowering of display area use efficiency. Moreover, word-wrappinghelps enhance document readability. This method also can be applied notonly in a case where a plurality of lines are displayed at a time butalso in a case where only one line is displayed at a time and itsdisplay is updated as time passes. Here, “display” denotes not onlytemporary display but also continuous or permanent display as achievedby printing.

Advisably, the upper limit of the number of characters per line isvariable, and the reference value for the number of characters from thetop of the line to the head of the word is set according to the upperlimit of the number of characters per line. By making the number ofcharacters per line variable, it is possible to achieve flexibledisplay. Moreover, by setting the reference value according to thenumber of characters per line, even when the number of characters perline is changed, it is possible to strike an optimal balance betweendocument readability and display area use efficiency.

Here, advisably, the reference value for the number of characters fromthe top of the line to the head of the word is set by multiplying by apredetermined factor the upper limit of the number of characters perline.

Alternatively, different values as the upper limit of the number ofcharacters per line and corresponding values as the reference value forthe number of characters from the top of the line to the head of theword are stored in one-to-one correspondence.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a document displaymethod whereby words constituting a document are displayed sequentiallywith line feeds inserted therein according to the upper limit set on thenumber of characters per line, comprising the steps of: subtracting fromthe upper limit of the number of characters per line the number ofcharacters from the top of a line to immediately before a word tocalculate the number of blank characters and then setting a referencevalue for the ratio of the number of blank characters to the number ofcharacters contained in the word; inserting a line feed immediatelybefore the word when the number of characters from the top of the lineto the tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of the number ofcharacters per line and in addition the ratio of the number of blankcharacters to the number of characters contained in the word does notexceed the reference value; inserting a line feed halfway within theword when the number of characters from the top of the line to the tailof the word exceeds the upper limit of the number of characters per lineand in addition the ratio of the number of blank characters to thenumber of characters contained in the word exceeds the reference value.

Also in this document display method, when the number of characters fromthe top of a line to the tail of a word exceeds the upper limit of thenumber of characters per line, a choice is permitted of whether toperform word-wrapping or to insert a halfway line feed. Here, the choiceis made according to the ratio of the number of blank characters, whichis the value obtained by subtracting from the upper limit of the numberof characters per line the number of characters from the top of the lineto immediately before the word, to the number of characters contained inthe word in such a way that, when the ratio of the number of blankcharacters to the number of characters contained in the word does notexceed the reference value, word-wrapping is performed and, when theratio of the number of blank characters to the number of characterscontained in the word exceeds the reference value, a halfway line feedis inserted. The blank created at the end of a line by word-wrapping isalways shorter than or equal to the length corresponding to the valueobtained by multiplying the number of characters contained in the wordas a whole by the reference value. This makes it possible to shorten theblank except when the line contains a word containing an especiallylarge number of characters. This helps alleviate the lowering of displayarea use efficiency. Moreover, word-wrapping helps enhance documentreadability. This method also can be applied not only in a case where aplurality of lines are displayed at a time but also in a case where onlyone line is displayed at a time and its display is updated as timepasses. Here, “display” denotes not only temporary display but alsocontinuous or permanent display as achieved by printing.

Advisably, the upper limit of the number of characters per line is madevariable, and the reference value for the ratio of the number of blankcharacters to the number of characters contained in the word is setaccording to the upper limit of the number of characters per line. Ifthe reference value is fixed, the maximum value of the length of theblank created by word-wrapping varies with the number of characterscontained in the word. By contrast, by making the reference valuevariable and determining it according to the number of characterscontained in the word, it is possible to make substantially fixed themaximum value of the length of the blank. This helps further alleviatethe lowering of screen use efficiency. To achieve this, the referencevalue is made smaller for words containing larger numbers of charactersthan for words containing smaller numbers of characters.

Here, advisably, different values as the number of characters containedin the word and corresponding values as the reference value for theratio of the number of blank characters to the number of characterscontained in the word are stored in one-to-one correspondence.

Advisably, a reference value is set also for the number of characterscontained in the word, and, even when the number of characters from thetop of the line to the tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of thenumber of characters per line and in addition the ratio of the number ofblank characters to the number of characters contained in the wordexceeds the reference value, if the number of characters contained inthe word does not exceed the reference value, a line feed is insertedimmediately before the word. Consequently, the blank created at the endof a line by word-wrapping is always shorter than or equal to the lengthcorresponding to the reference value for the number of characterscontained in the word. This helps further alleviate the lowering ofscreen use efficiency. Moreover, it no longer occurs that a line feedinserted halfway within a word containing a small number of characterscauses a divided part thereof, containing too small a number ofcharacters, to be arranged separately at the end or head of a line. Thishelps further enhance readability.

Alternatively, a reference value is set also for the number ofcharacters from the top of the line to the head of the word, and, evenwhen the number of characters from the top of the line to the tail ofthe word exceeds the upper limit of the number of characters per lineand in addition the ratio of the number of blank characters to thenumber of characters contained in the word exceeds the reference value,if the number of characters from the top of the line to the head of theword exceeds the reference value, a line feed is inserted immediatelybefore the word. Consequently, the blank created at the end of a line byword-wrapping is always shorter than or equal to the lengthcorresponding to the number of characters equal to the upper limit minusthe reference value. This helps further alleviate the lowering ofdisplay area use efficiency. Moreover, it no longer occurs that a linefeed inserted halfway within a word causes a divided part thereofcontaining too small a number of characters, to be arranged separatelyat the head of a line. This helps further enhance readability.

In the present invention, any of the document display methods describedabove is provided in the form of a software program that is executed ona computer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of theportable terminal devices of a first, a second, and a third embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of how a document is displayed onthe portable terminal device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of the operations performed todisplay a document entered in the portable terminal device of the firstembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of how a document is displayed onthe portable terminal device of the second embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of the configurationof the portable terminal device of a first embodiment of the invention.This portable terminal device 11 includes the following functionalsections: a control section 1; a program memory 2; a buffer memory 3; aninput section 4; a display section 5; a communicating section 6; a voiceinput section 7; a voice output section 8; an auxiliary storage medium9; and a bus 10.

The control section 1 is realized, for example, as a CPU or MPU providedin a computer. The control section 1 executes control programs stored inthe program memory 2 to control the individual blocks mentioned above byway of the bus 10, and thereby functions as a storage control section 1a, a input control section 1 b, a display control section 1 c, acommunicating control section 1 d, and a voice input/output controlsection 1 e. For example, when the control section 1 functions as thedisplay control section 1 c, it sequentially reads out the words enteredvia the input section 4 and stored in the buffer memory 3, and thendisplays them on the display section 5.

The control section 1 functions further as the following functionalsections: a first judging section 1 f that checks whether or not thetail of a word displayed on the screen of the display section 5 goesbeyond the end of a line (i.e., whether or not the number of charactersfrom the top of the line to the tail of the word exceeds the maximumnumber of characters per line); a second judging section 1 g that checkswhether or not the number of characters contained in a word of which thetail goes beyond the end of a line is greater than a previously setreference value; a word-wrap section 1 h that inserts a line feedimmediately before a word so that the word as a whole is moved to thenext line when the first judging section 1 f finds the tail of the wordto go beyond the end of a line and in addition the second judgingsection 1 g finds the number of characters contained in the word to besmaller than or equal to the reference value; a halfway line-feedsection 1 i that inserts a line feed halfway within a word and move thetail part thereof to the next line when the first judging section 1 ffinds the tail of the word to go beyond the end of a line and inaddition that the second judging section 1 g finds the number ofcharacters contained in the word to be greater than the reference value;and a setting section 1 j that sets the reference value that the secondjudging section 1 g uses to check the number of characters.

When the control section 1 functions as the display control section 1 c,it can change the maximum number of characters per line by changing thefollowing parameters: the display area on the screen of the controlsection 1; the direction in which to run lines, i.e., whether to displaya document in a horizontal or vertical format; and the size of thecharacters used. Here, the control section 1 functioning as the settingsection 1 j calculates, by multiplying by a predetermined factor themaximum number of characters per line, the reference value that thesecond judging section 1 g uses to check the number of characters.

The first judging section 1 f and the second judging section 1 g arecomposed of counters, comparator circuits, and other components.

The program memory 2 is realized with a nonvolatile storage medium suchas a ROM or EEPROM. In the program memory 2, there are stored controlprograms and application programs that the program memory 2 uses tocontrol the operation of the portable terminal device 11, and fixed datasuch as the maximum number of characters that can be displayed per line.

The buffer memory 3 is realized with a volatile storage medium ornonvolatile but rewritable storage medium such as RAM or EEPROM. In thebuffer memory 3, there is stored, on a temporary basis, input/outputdata to and from the individual functional sections that the controlsection 1 processes to control the cooperation of the portable terminaldevice 11.

The buffer memory 3 also functions as the following functional sections:a word storage memory 3 a in which are sequentially stored words enteredvia the input section 4; a judgment table 3 b in which is stored thereference value that the second judging section 1 g uses to check thenumber of characters; a display buffer 3 c in which are stored, on atemporary basis, the word about to be displayed on the screen of thedisplay section 5, the division position, the cursor position, and thelike; and a received information storage section 3 d in which is storedinformation received from another terminal device.

As described earlier, the control section 1 functioning as the settingsection 1 j calculates the reference value by multiplying by apredetermined factor the maximum number of characters that are displayedper line. This calculation is performed beforehand and collectively foreach of different values that can be set as the maximum number ofcharacters per line, and the thus calculated reference values are, inone-to-one correspondence with the corresponding values of the maximumnumber of characters, stored in the judgment table 3 b. When the maximumnumber of characters per line is changed, the reference valuecorresponding thereto is read out from the judgment table 3 b. Thiseliminates the need to perform calculation every time the number ofcharacters per line is changed, and thus helps achieve fast display.

Instead of calculating the reference value by multiplying by apredetermined factor the maximum number of characters that are displayedper line, it is also possible to predetermine a reference value for eachof different values of the maximum number of characters and store thethus calculated reference values in the judgment table. This makes itpossible to set more flexibly the ratio of the reference value to themaximum characters per line. In that case, the judgment table isprovided not in the buffer memory 3 but in the program memory 2.

The input section 4 includes, for example, numerical keys, key switches,a touch panel, and other components. Under the control of the inputcontrol section 1 b, the input section 4 accepts entry of wordsincluding characters and symbols, commands for connection to anotherterminal device, commands for transmission/reception of character data,and the like.

The display section 5 is realized with a small-size LCD (liquid crystaldisplay), PD (plasma display), ELD (electroluminescence display), or thelike, Under the control of the display control section 1 c, the displaysection 5 displays words constituting a document in a plurality of lineson the screen.

As described earlier, the maximum number of characters that aredisplayed per line is variable. Specifically, the maximum number perline is, for example, switchable between 16 and 24 characters. In thiscase, if the predetermined factor is assumed to be ¾, the referencevalue that the second judging section 1 g uses to check the number ofcharacters in a word is switchable between 12 and 18 characters,respectively.

The communicating section 6 is composed of, for example, a modem, asignal modulator/demodulator circuit, and other components. Under thecontrol of the communication control section 1 d, the communicationcontrol section 1 d connects to another terminal device by way of acommunication network (not illustrated) to exchange therewith soundsignals and character information such as electronic mail.

The voice input section 7 is composed of, for example, a small-sizemicrophone, an A/D converter circuit, and other components. Under thecontrol of the voice input/output control section 1 e, the voice inputsection 7 converts sound information from outside, such as the voice ofthe operator, into an audio signal.

The voice output section 8 is composed of, for example, a small-sizeloudspeaker, a D/A converter circuit, and other components. Under thecontrol of the voice input/output control section 1 e, the voice outputsection 8 converts the audio signal received from another terminaldevice into sound information and then outputs it.

The auxiliary storage medium 9 is realized with a rewritable storagemedium such as a RAM or EEPROM, and has a region for storing variousprograms and various items of information. The auxiliary storage medium9 is removable from the portable terminal device 11, and isexchangeable. The programs containing the instructions according towhich the control section 1 performs various control processes, i.e.,the functions of the storage control section 1 a, input control section1 b, display control section 1 c, communication control section 1 d,voice input/output control section 1 e, first judging section 1 f,second judging section 1 g, word-wrap section 1 h, halfway line-feedsection 1 i, and setting section 1 j, may be stored in the auxiliarystorage medium 9 so as to be installed therefrom. In that case, in theprogram memory 2 is stored only an installation program whereby theprograms stored in the auxiliary storage medium 9 are read out therefromand are stored in the buffer memory 3.

FIG. 2 shows an example of how a document is displayed on the screen 5 aof the display section 5 in the portable terminal device 11. Thisexample deals with a case where the maximum characters per line on thescreen 5 a is 16 and the factor of the reference value relative to themaximum number of characters is ¾, i.e., the reference value is 12. Inthis example, it is assumed that the following words are displayed inthe order mentioned, with a blank corresponding to one characterinserted between every two adjoining words: a word “AA . . . A”consisting of five characters, a word “BB . . . B” consisting of eightcharacters, a word “CCCC” consisting of four characters, a word “DD . .. D” consisting of 13 characters, a word “EEEE” consisting of fourcharacters, and a word “FF . . . F” consisting of seven characters.

With respect to the third word “CCCC,” the first judging section 1 ffinds the tail of the word to go beyond the end of a line, and thesecond judging section 1 g finds the number of characters contained inthe word to be smaller than or equal to the reference value. Thus, theword-wrap section 1 h inserts a line feed immediately before the word sothat the word as a whole is displayed in the next line. With respect tothe fourth word “DD . . . D,” the first judging section 1 f finds thetail of the word to go beyond the end of a line, and the second judgingsection 1 g finds the number of characters contained in the word toexceed the reference value. Thus, the halfway line-feed section 1 iinserts a line feed halfway within the word so that divided parts of theword are displayed in different lines. With respect to any of the otherwords, the first judging section 1 f finds the tail of the word not togo beyond the end of a line, and therefore the word is displayed in thesame line as the one immediately preceding it.

In this way, when the tail of a word goes beyond the end of a line, achoice is made of whether to perform word-wrapping or to insert ahalfway line feed according to whether or not the number of characterscontained in the word exceeds a reference value. This makes it possibleto strike an optimal balance between document readability, which can beenhanced by word-wrapping, and screen use efficiency, of which thelowering can be alleviated by the insertion of line feeds. In this case,the blank created by word-wrapping is always shorter than or equal tothe length of the number of characters corresponding to the referencevalue.

By using the method described above, the portable terminal device 11 candisplay both a document entered via the input section 4 and a documentreceived from another device. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow ofthe operations performed to display a document entered via the inputsection 4. It should be noted that FIG. 3 only shows the processperformed on a single word and, to display a document, the process shownin FIG. 3 is performed repeatedly.

First, whether or not a word including more than one character or symbolis entered via the input section 4 is checked (step S1), and, if no wordis entered, the process is ended. If a word is entered, the word isstored in the word storage memory 3 a (S2). Then, the word thus storedis read out from the word storage memory 3 a, and is displayed on thescreen 5 a of the display section 5.

Next, whether or not the tail of the word to be displayed goes beyondthe end of a line is checked (S4), and, if not, the process is ended. Ifthe tail of the word goes beyond the end of the line, whether or not thenumber of characters contained in the word is greater than the referencevalue is checked (S5). If the number of characters contained in the wordis greater than the reference value, word-wrapping is disabled and aline feed is inserted halfway within the word (S6); if the number ofcharacters contained in the word is smaller than or equal to thereference value, word-wrapping is performed immediately before the word(S7).

Then, whether or not the next line, i.e., when a halfway line feed isinserted, the line in which the remaining part of the word is displayedor, when word-wrapping is performed, the line in which the word as awhole is displayed, exceeds the last line on the screen of the displaysection 5 (S8), and, if the next line does not exceed the last line, theprocess is ended. If the next line exceeds the last line, the display onthe screen is scrolled up so that the remaining part of the word or theword as a whole is displayed in the last line (S9), and then the processis ended.

Now, the portable terminal device 12 of a second embodiment of theinvention will be described. The portable terminal device 12 of thisembodiment is a modified version of the portable terminal device 11 ofthe first embodiment wherein, as compared therewith, modifications aremade in the functions of the control section 1 as the second judgingsection 1 g, word-wrap section 1 h, hallway linefeed section 1 i, andsetting section 1 j. The overall configuration of the portable terminaldevice 12 is the same as shown in FIG. 1. In the following descriptions,overlapping explanations will be omitted, and only differences from theportable terminal device 11 will be described.

In the portable terminal device 12, when the first judging section 1 ffinds the tail of a word to go over the end of a line, the secondjudging section 1 g checks whether or not the number of characters fromthe top of the line to the head of the word exceeds a reference value,i.e., whether or not the head of the word is located closer to the endof the line than a reference position within the line is.

When the first judging section 1 f finds the end of the word to gobeyond the end of the line and in addition the second judging section 1g finds the number of characters from the top of the line to the head ofthe word to exceed the reference value (i.e., when the head of the wordis located closer to the end of the line than the reference positionis), the word-wrap section 1 h inserts a line feed immediately beforethe word. When the first judging section 1 f finds the end of the wordto go beyond the end of the line and in addition the second judgingsection 1 g finds the number of characters from the top of the line tothe head of the word to be smaller than or equal to the reference value(i.e., when the head of the word is not located closer to the end of theline than the reference position is), the halfway line-feed section 1 iinserts a line feed halfway within the word.

The setting section 1 j sets the reference value (the reference positionwithin a line) that the second judging section 1 g uses to check thenumber of characters from the top of the line position) according to themaximum number of characters per line; specifically, it calculates thereference value by multiplying a predetermined factor the maximum numberof characters per line, The predetermined factor is, for example, ⅔. Inthis case, when the maximum number of characters per line is 16, thereference value is 11; when the maximum number of characters per line is24, the reference value is 16.

The control section 1 functioning as the setting section 1 j performs,beforehand and collectively for each of different values that can be setas the maximum number of characters per line, the calculation needed tocalculate the reference value, and the thus calculated reference valuesare, in one-to-one correspondence with the corresponding values of themaximum number of characters, stored in the judgment table 3 b. When themaximum number of characters per line is changed, the reference valuecorresponding thereto is read out from the judgment table 3 b. Asdescribed earlier in connection with the first embodiment, instead ofcalculating the reference value by multiplying by a predetermined factorthe maximum number of characters that are displayed per line, it is alsopossible to predetermine a reference value for each of different valuesof the maximum number of characters and store the thus calculatedreference values in the judgment table.

FIG. 4 shows an example of how a document is displayed on the screen 5 aof the display section 5 in the portable terminal device 12. Thisexample deals with a case where the maximum characters per line on thescreen 5 a is 16 and the factor of the reference value relative to themaximum number of characters is ⅔, i.e., the reference value is 11. Inthis example, it is assumed that the following words are displayed inthe order mentioned, with a blank corresponding to one characterinserted between every two adjoining words: a word “AA . . . A”consisting of five characters, a word “BB . . . B” consisting of sevencharacters, a word “CCCC” consisting of four characters, a word “DDDD”consisting of four characters, a word “EE . . . E” consisting of eightcharacters, and a word “FF . . . F” consisting of five characters.

With respect to the third word “CCCC,” the first judging section 1 ffinds the tail of the word to go beyond the end of a line, and thesecond judging section 1 g finds the number of characters from the topof the line to exceed the reference value. Thus, the word-wrap section 1h inserts a line feed immediately before the word so that the word as awhole is displayed in the next line. With respect to the fifth word “EE. . . E,” the first judging section if finds the tail of the word to gobeyond the end of a line, and the second judging section 1 g finds thenumber of characters from the top of the line to be smaller than orequal to the reference value. Thus, the halfway line-feed section 1 iinserts a line feed halfway within the word so that divided parts of theword are displayed in different lines. With respect to any of the otherwords, the first judging section 1 f finds the tail of the word not togo beyond the end of a line, and therefore the word is displayed in thesame line as the one immediately preceding it.

In this way, when the tail of a word goes beyond the end of a line, achoice is made of whether to perform word-wrapping or to insert a linefeed according to whether or not the number of characters from the topof the line to the head of the word exceeds a reference value. This alsomakes it possible to strike an optimal balance between documentreadability, which can be enhanced by word-wrapping, and screen useefficiency, of which the lowering can be alleviated by the insertion ofline feeds. In this case, the blank created by word-wrapping is alwaysshorter than or equal to the maximum number of characters per line minusthe reference value.

The flow of operations performed to display a document entered via theinput section 4 is almost the same as the one shown in FIG. 3. The onlydifference is that, in step S5, not whether or not the number ofcharacters contained in a word is greater than a predetermined value ischecked but whether or not the number of characters from the top of aline to the head of a word is greater than a reference number is checkedso that, if so, the flow proceeds to step S7 and, if not, the flowproceeds to step S6.

Now, the portable terminal device 13 of a third embodiment of theinvention will be described. The portable terminal device 13 of thisembodiment is a modified version of the portable terminal device 11 ofthe first embodiment wherein, as compared therewith, modifications aremade in the functions of the control section 1 as the second judgingsection 1 g, word-wrap section 1 h, halfway line-feed section 1 i, andsetting section 1 j. The overall configuration of the portable terminaldevice 13 is the same as shown in FIG. 1. In the following descriptions,overlapping explanations will be omitted, and only differences from theportable terminal device 11 will be described.

In the portable terminal device 13, when the first judging section 1 ffinds the tail of a word to go beyond the end of a line, the secondjudging section 1 g checks whether or not the ratio of the number ofcharacters from the head of the word to the end of the line to thenumber of the characters contained in the word is greater than areference value. The number of characters from the head of a word to theend of a line is equal to the number of blank characters, i.e., thenumber obtained by subtracting the number of characters from the top ofthe line to immediately before the word from the maximum number ofcharacters per line.

When the first judging section 1 f finds the end of the word to gobeyond the end of the line and in addition the second judging section 1g finds the ratio of the number of characters from the head of the wordto the end of the line (the number of blank characters) to the number ofthe characters contained in the word not to exceed the reference value,the word-wrap section 1 h inserts a line feed immediately before theword. When the first judging section 1 f finds the end of the word to gobeyond the end of the line and in addition the second judging section 1g finds the ratio of the number of characters from the head of the wordto the end of the line (the number of blank characters) to the number ofthe characters contained in the word to exceed the reference value, thehalfway line-feed section 1 i inserts a line feed halfway within theword.

Accordingly, for example, when the number of characters contained in aword is 10 and the reference value is 0.5, if the number of charactersfrom the head of the word to the end of a line is 4, word-wrapping isperformed and, if the number of characters from the head of the word tothe end of a line is 7, a halfway line feed is inserted. The number ofcharacters corresponding to the blank created at the end of a line byword-wrapping is smaller than the value obtained by multiplying thenumber of characters contained in the word by the reference value. Thishelps alleviate the lowering of screen use efficiency.

The reference value that the second judging section 1 g uses to checkthe ratio between the numbers of characters is variable, and is set bythe setting section 1 j. Here, the setting section 1 j sets thereference value according to the number of characters contained in aword. Specifically, the setting section 1 j makes the reference valuesmaller as the number of characters contained in a word becomes greater.For example, when the number of characters contained in a word is 5, 10,and 15, the reference value is 0.6, 0.5, and 0.4, respectively. Thereference value may be kept fixed, but, in that case, the number ofcharacters corresponding to the blank varies in proportion to the numberof characters contained in a word. This causes the blank created byword-wrapping to tend to be long when a word contains a large number ofcharacters, and thus diminishes the effect of alleviating the loweringof screen use efficiency. By contrast, by making the reference valuesmaller as the number of characters contained in a word becomes larger,it is possible to make the blank short even when word-wrapping isperformed on a word containing a large number of characters, and thus itis possible to surely obtain the effect of alleviating the lowing ofscreen use efficiency.

The control section 1 functioning as the setting section 1 j performs,beforehand and collectively for each of different values that arepossible as the number of characters contained in a word, thecalculation needed to calculate the reference value, and the thuscalculated reference values are, in one-to-one correspondence with thecorresponding values of the number of characters contained in a word,stored in the judgment table 3 b. In the course of actual checking, whenthe number of characters contained in a word changes, the referencevalue corresponding thereto is read out from the judgment table 3 b. Asdescribed earlier in connection with the first embodiment, it is alsopossible to predetermine a reference value for each of different valuesof the number of characters contained in a word and store the thuscalculated reference values in the judgment table.

The flow of operations performed to display a document entered via theinput section 4 is almost the same as the one shown in FIG. 3. The onlydifference is that, in step S5, whether the ratio of the number ofcharacters from the head of a word to the end of a line (the number ofblank characters) to the number of the characters contained in the wordexceeds a reference value is checked so that, if so, the flow proceedsto step S6 and, if not, the flow proceeds to step S7.

When the ratio of the number of characters from the head of a word tothe end of a line (the number of blank characters) to the number of thecharacters contained in the word exceeds the reference value, a halfwayline feed is inserted. The problem here is that, inserting a line feedhalfway within a word containing a small number of characters may lowerreadability. For example, inserting a line feed halfway within a wordcontaining two to four characters causes the head part thereof displayedat the end of the line or the tail part thereof displayed in the nextline to contain only one or two characters. This lowers readability andin addition does not effectively alleviate the lowering of screen useefficiency. This inconvenience can be avoided to a certain degree bymaking the reference value greater as the number of characters containedin a word becomes greater, and can be avoided surely by simultaneouslyusing the method described in connection with the first embodiment.

Specifically, when the first judging section 1 f finds the tail of aword to go beyond the end of a line, the second judging section 1 gcompares not only the ratio of the number of characters from the head ofthe word to the end of the line (the number of blank characters) to thenumber of characters contained in the word with a reference value butalso the number of characters contained in the word with a referencevalue for a word containing that number of characters so that, even whenthe ratio of the number of blank characters to the number of characterscontained in the word exceeds the reference value, if the number ofcharacters contained in the word is smaller than or equal to thereference value, no halfway line feed is inserted, but word-wrapping isinserted. This helps prevent a word containing a small number ofcharacters from being divided, and thus helps achieve satisfactoryreadability. Moreover, it is also possible to minimize the lowering ofscreen use efficiency.

Inserting a line feed halfway within a word containing a large number ofcharacters is unlikely to cause the head part thereof displayed at theend of a line to have too small a number of characters. Moreover, sincethe reference number is made smaller as the number of characterscontained in a word becomes larger, it is possible to reduce the blankcreated by word-wrapping to shorter than or equal to a predeterminedlength. However, such a hallway line feed may cause the tail part of theword displayed at the top of the next line to have too small a number ofcharacters. Moreover, if reference values are too finely set fordifferent values of the number of characters contained in a word for thepurpose of reducing the blank to shorter than or equal to apredetermined length, performing the necessary operations requires arather complicated process. These inconveniences can be avoided surelyby simultaneously using the method described in connection with thefirst embodiment.

Specifically, when the first judging section 1 f finds the tail of aword to go beyond the end of a line, the second judging section 1 gcompares not only the ratio of the number of characters from the head ofthe word to the end of the line (the number of blank characters) to thenumber of characters contained in the word with a reference value butalso the number of characters from the top of the line to the head ofthe word with a reference value set for that number so that, even whenthe ratio of the number of blank characters to the number of characterscontained in the word exceeds the reference value, if the number ofcharacters from the top of the line to the head of the word exceeds thereference value, no halfway line feed is inserted, but word-wrapping isinserted. This helps secure a number of characters greater than apredetermined number in the tail portion of a word divided by a halfwayline feed. Moreover, it is possible, even if reference values for theratio between the numbers of characters are not set finely, or if thereference value for the ratio between the numbers of characters is keptfixed, it is possible to reduce the blank created by word-wrapping toshorter than or equal to a predetermined length.

In the descriptions of the first to third embodiments given above,specific values are mentioned as the maximum number of characters perline, the reference value for the number of characters contained in aword, the reference value for the number of characters from the top of aline to the head of a word, the ratio of a particular reference value tothe maximum number of characters per line, the ratio of the number ofblank characters to the number of characters contained in a word, andthe like. It should be understood, however, that these values are merelycited as examples, and the aforementioned numbers and ratios may takeany other values. The embodiments described above all deal with caseswhere a document is displayed on the screen of an optical displaysection on a temporary basis. It should be understood, however, that thepresent invention is applicable also in cases where a document isdisplayed on a continuous or permanent basis as by being printed onpaper.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is applicable to document display devices thatdisplay a document written in a language in which adjoining words arewritten separated from each other. The present invention is suitable, inparticular, to appliances such as cellular phones and portable terminaldevices that are provided with a display section that can display only asmall number of characters per line on the screen thereof.

1. A word arrangement method for arranging a sequence of words in a linewith an upper limit set on a number of characters per line, comprisingthe steps of: setting a first reference value for said upper limit;setting a second reference value for a largest desired number ofcharacters forming a blank leading to an end of a line created whenword-wrapping is performed; determining whether or not a number ofcharacters from a top of the line to a tail of a word exceeds the firstreference value; when it is determined that the number of charactersfrom the top of the line to the tail of the word exceeds the firstreference value, determining whether or not a number of characterscontained in the word exceeds the second reference value; inserting aline feed immediately before the word and performing control such that anumber of characters forming a blank leading to the end of the linebecomes equal to or less than the second reference value when it isdetermined that the number of characters from the top of the line to thetail of the word exceeds the first reference value and in addition thatthe number of characters contained in the word does not exceed thesecond reference value; and inserting a line feed halfway within theword without hyphenation when it is determined that the number ofcharacters from the top of the line to the tail of the word exceeds thefirst reference value and in addition that the number of characterscontained in the word exceeds the second reference value.
 2. The wordarrangement method according to claim 1, wherein the number ofcharacters per line is variable, and wherein the second reference valueis set according to the number of characters per line.
 3. The wordarrangement method according to claim 2, wherein the second referencevalue is set by multiplying the number of characters per line by apredetermined factor.
 4. The word arrangement method according to claim2, wherein the second reference value is read out from a table in whichdifferent values as the number of characters per line and correspondingvalues as the second reference value are stored in one-to-onecorrespondence.
 5. A word arrangement method for arranging a sequence ofwords in a line with an upper limit set on a number of characters perline, comprising the steps of: setting a first reference value for saidupper limit; setting a second reference value for a value obtained bysubtracting from the first reference value a largest desired number ofcharacters forming a blank leading to an end of a line created whenword-wrapping is performed; determining whether or not a number ofcharacters from a top of the line to a tail of a word to be displayedexceeds the first reference value; when it is determined that the numberof characters from the top of the line to the tail of the word to bedisplayed exceeds the first reference value, determining whether or nota number of characters from the top of the line to a head of the wordexceeds the second reference value; inserting a line feed immediatelybefore the word and performing control such that a number of charactersforming a blank leading to the end of the line becomes equal to or lessthan a value obtained by subtracting the second reference value from thefirst reference value when it is determined that the number ofcharacters from the top of the line to the tail of the word to bedisplayed exceeds the first reference value and in addition that thenumber of characters from the top of the line to the head of the wordexceeds the second reference value; and inserting a line feed halfwaywithin the word without hyphenation when it is determined that thenumber of characters from the top of the line to the tail of the word tobe displayed exceeds the first reference value and in addition that thenumber of characters from the top of the line to the head of the worddoes not exceed the second reference value.
 6. The word arrangementmethod according to claim 5, wherein the number of characters per lineis variable, and wherein the second reference value is set according tothe number of characters per line.
 7. The word arrangement methodaccording to claim 6, wherein the second reference value is set bymultiplying the number of characters per line by a predetermined factor.8. The word arrangement method according to claim 6, wherein the secondreference value is read out from a table in which different values asthe number of characters per line and corresponding values as the secondreference value are stored in one-to-one correspondence.
 9. A wordarrangement method for arranging a sequence of words in a line with anupper limit set on a number of characters per line, comprising the stepsof: subtracting from the upper limit of the number of characters perline a number of characters from a top of a line to immediately before aword to calculate a number of blank characters and then setting areference value for a ratio of the number of blank characters to anumber of characters contained in the word; inserting a line feedimmediately before the word when the number of characters from the topof the line to a tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of the numberof characters per line and in addition the ratio of the number of blankcharacters to the number of characters contained in the word does notexceed the reference value; and inserting a line feed halfway within theword without hyphenation when the number of characters from the top ofthe line to the tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of the numberof characters per line and in addition the ratio of the number of blankcharacters to the number of characters contained in the word exceeds thereference value.
 10. The word arrangement method according to claim 9,wherein the reference value is variable, and wherein the reference valueis set according to the number of characters contained in the word. 11.The word arrangement method according to claim 10, wherein differentvalues as the number of characters contained in the word andcorresponding values as the reference value are stored in one-to-onecorrespondence.
 12. The word arrangement method according to claim 9,wherein another reference value is set also for the number of characterscontained in the word, and wherein, even when the number of charactersfrom the top of the line to the tail of the word exceeds the upper limitof the number of characters per line and in addition the ratio of thenumber of blank characters to the number of characters contained in theword exceeds the reference value, if the number of characters containedin the word does not exceed said other reference value, a line feed isinserted immediately before the word.
 13. The word arrangement methodaccording to claim 9, wherein another reference value is set also for anumber of characters from the top of the line to a head of the word, andwherein, even when the number of characters from the top of the line tothe tail of the word exceeds the upper limit of the number of charactersper line and in addition the ratio of the number of blank characters tothe number of characters contained in the word exceeds the referencevalue, if the number of characters from the top of the line to the headof the word exceeds said other reference value, a line feed is insertedimmediately before the word.
 14. A document display method whereby wordsconstituting a document are displayed sequentially with line feedsinserted therein according to an upper limit set on a number ofcharacters per line, comprising the steps of: setting a first referencevalue for said upper limit; setting a second reference value for alargest desired number of characters forming a blank leading to an endof a line created when word-wrapping is performed; determining whetheror not a number of characters from a top of the line to a tail of a wordexceed the first reference value; when it is determined that the numberof characters from the top of the line to the tail of the word exceedsthe first reference value, determining whether or not a number ofcharacters contained in the word exceeds the second reference value;inserting a line feed immediately before the word and performing controlsuch that a number of characters forming a blank leading to the end ofthe line becomes equal to or less than the second reference value whenit is determined that the number of characters from the top of the lineto the tail of the word exceeds the first reference value and inaddition that the number of characters contained in the word does notexceed the second reference value; and inserting a line feed halfwaywithin the word without hyphenation when it is determined that thenumber of characters from the top of the line to the tail of the wordexceeds the fist reference value and in addition that the number ofcharacters contained in the word exceeds the second reference value. 15.A document display method whereby words constituting a document aredisplayed sequentially with line feeds inserted therein according to anupper limit set on a number of characters per line, comprising the stepsof: setting a first reference value for said upper limit; setting asecond reference value for a value obtained by subtracting from thefirst reference value a largest desired number of characters forming ablank leading to an end of a line created when word-wrapping isperformed; determining whether or not a number of characters from a topof the line to a tail of a word to be displayed exceeds the firstreference value; when it is determined that the number of charactersfrom the top of the line to the tall of the word to be displayed exceedsthe first reference value, determining whether or not a number ofcharacters from the top of the line to a head of the word exceeds thesecond reference value; inserting a line feed immediately before theword and performing control such that a number of characters forming ablank leading to the end of the line becomes equal to or less than avalue obtained by subtracting the second reference value from the firstreference value when it is determined that the number of characters fromthe top of the line to the tail of the word to be displayed exceeds thefirst reference value and in addition that the number of characters fromthe top of the line to the head of the word exceeds the second referencevalue; and inserting a line feed halfway within the word withouthyphenation when it is determined that the number of characters from thetop of the line to the tail of the word to be displayed exceeds thefirst reference value and in addition that the number of characters fromthe top of the line to the head of the word does not exceed the secondreference value.